Nashik: Scheme comes to cancer patients' benefit most

Over 30,000 medical and surgical procedures have been performed at various hospitals in the district under the scheme, with over 50% of the cases relating to treatment for cancer.Updated: November 20, 2015, 11:49 IST

Nashik: Over 30,000 medical and surgical procedures have been performed at various hospitals in the district under the scheme, with over 50% of the cases relating to treatment for cancer. Officials said that the absence of cancer hospitals in the adjoining districts had resulted in the large number of oncology procedures reported in Nashik.

With 12,737 cases of medical oncology, 2,842 cases of radiation oncology and another 1,443 cases of surgical oncology, the cancer-related treatments under the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana in Nashik division, comprising Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar and Nandurbar. Of the 33,950 procedures performed in the district under the scheme since its implementation from November 21, 2013, more than 50% (or 17,022) are related to cancer.

District coordinator of the scheme Vaibhav Bachhav said the surrounding districts of Nashik do not have cancer hospitals in a large number because of which the patients from these districts come to Nashik.

Cancer experts said that economically-backward people earlier used to refrain from getting treatment once they came to know that they were suffering from cancer. For them cancer was the most life-threatening disease. Further, treatment was also overlooked for patients above the age of 60 or 70 years.

Dr Vinayak Shenage of NAMCO Charitable Trust Cancer Hospital said, "If there are 12,737 cases of medical oncology under the Jeevandayee scheme, it is not necessary that as many patients have taken the treatment. As per the procedure, every patient with cancer is advised six to eight cycles of chemotherapy. Thus, every time, a patient registers for chemotherapy, an altogether new file is created."

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